The House In The Woods
by SaraBarns
Summary: What else is a group of college boys to do but investigate an alleged haunted house on All Hallows' Eve? It's a shame Ludwig doesn't want to let them. But Arthur challenges Alfred to a dare on the way back, and soon Mattie is being dragged back towards said haunted house. But when Alfred runs off, petrified... well, Mattie's in trouble. College!AU, Halloween!fic. Twoshot!


**A/N**: SHUSH. I did _NOT_ give away the plot in the description. Hushy. I have no idea what you're talking about. Go away.

**Disclaimer**: Hetalia's still not mine. Sigh. But that unicorn suit is. I want it back.

* * *

There is something light dancing across my neck. I can't feel what it is, and I can't move to brush it away. But it's not unpleasant.

It feels like the ends of the feathers that would lie on my bed unchecked after pillow fights with Alfred back in elementary school.

It feels like the soft kisses Ivan used to give me when we were cuddling in middle school.

It feels like the ends of Francis' stubble when he would bathe my neck in love bites during sex in high school.

**XOXOXOXO**

From between all the nearly identical tree trunks, I can finally see a clearing; still dark, but not quite as pitch-black as beneath the foliage. There seems to be what looks like a fence, but it's unusual; thin and black and tall. And spiked at the top. Like an old Victorian rusted beyond recognition. There are rose bushes, clearly not being maintained at all, that are protruding from the black bars, but the red roses look even more beautiful, glowing red and wild in the faint moonlight.

And then I see the house. It's huge. Made of brick, and painted white, but smeared with dirt near the ground, and with ivy creeping up the cracked walls. All the windows on the ground floor are boarded up, the wood in varying degrees of newness, and the windows on the upper levels are just smashed in. What looks like a torn curtain hangs out from one of the second-story windows on the left, accentuating this eerie sight with a splash of deep red.

A crow flies out of a third story window, cawing loudly, and I jump, startled by it. The front door is painted black, and red letters are smeared across the front door reading, "Keep Out or Die". I swallow instinctively as I notice each of the gates rest on only one hinge, and half of one looks as though it were bent at a strange angle. There are several large boulders leading up to the front door, and it looks as though a few of them have dark stains on the flat surfaces, which spatter onto the ground as well in some places.

I hang back by one of the trees, leaning my shoulder against it for support and crossing my arms, as the rest of the group proceeds ahead. One Captain America, one waiter, one princess, one unicorn, one baker, one… Francis with a rose over his… well…, one little red riding hood, one mobster, and one nurse.

"Haha, cool, dude, a haunted house!" Three guesses what Alfred dressed up as, and the first two don't count. He keeps swinging that shield around, though. He hit Feliciano in the forehead and gave him a bruise... I feel bad.

"Can't you ever use proper English?" Arthur as a waiter… now that was a little unexpected. I thought he would be the unicorn.

"Like, I told you there was something back here!" I really shouldn't be as surprised as I am that Feliks dressed up as a princess.

"You should go in it, da?" Ivan… in a unicorn suit. Alfred took pictures. I… just… no. There are just no words.

"T-That doesn't seem like such a good idea!" Toris is a baker. I don't really know where that came from.

"You should fuck in it, ohonhonhon!" Well… Francis' costume isn't really much of a costume.

"Ve, no, I don't want to! Don't make me go in!" Poor Feliciano, Francis keeps trying to get into his skirt. I think Elizaveta convinced him to dress up as Little Red Riding Hood.

"Oi! I-If my fratellino doesn't want to go in, you bastards better leave him the fuck alone!" Lovino is a mobster. No surprise there. But the suit is too big on him, and I think the gun is real.

"Oh, Lovinito, come on, it's just an old house!" Which leaves Antonio, in a nurse's dress and hat. He lost a bet. But doesn't seem to mind all that much. I don't understand how, but he still looks more masculine than Lovino in it.

"Like, Feliciano, it'll be so much fun! It's just too bad Ludwig wasn't here for you to hold when you get the complete shit scared out of you…"

"STOP!" another voice roars from behind us, and I jump, and clutch even more tightly at the tree.

"Ludwig?"

We all turn, and find one very angry Ludwig Beilschmidt coming out from the dark of the trees, dressed in a ridiculous-looking wolf costume. The hands are too large and the feet are absurd and furry, and the overalls he's wearing fit snugly, perhaps a little too snugly to be the proper size, but not too snugly to stop them from being incredibly attractive. But strangely, he appears to be holding a plastic bag. I didn't pin Ludwig as one for trick-or-treating. And... It doesn't look like candy inside. But that's none of my business.

"Ve, Luddy came to save me~!" Feliciano cries as he bursts out of the others from between Lovino and Antonio, now actively arguing (read: Lovino shouting at Antonio, and Antonio laughing and hugging him) to run towards the German boy. "Take me home~!" he pouts, as he jumps into Ludwig's arms, and the taller boy stumbles back a step with a grunt.

"You all should leave. This is stupid and against the law. It's just an abandoned house," he growls. "You… you'll be defiling someone's memories by entering here. And it might not even be structurally sound. Don't be such dummköpfe."

They all fall silent, as the smiles slide from their faces.

They forgot why we hadn't invited Ludwig.

His brother went missing in the woods years ago, when most of us were just starting high school. I know because Ivan told me about it.

We'd been dating at the time… Ivan was a senior, and I was a freshman. Ludwig's brother should have been starting college, but he hadn't found one yet. Ivan and Ludwig's brother had been out in the woods looking for a haunted house, on Halloween, and only Ivan came back. He was covered in blood. And claimed not to remember what happened after someone pushed him into a rock on the trail they'd been walking on.

When he woke up, he said Ludwig's brother was gone. Nobody had seen him since.

Now I was in my freshman year of college; as was Alfred. Arthur was his [boyfriend and] Biology teacher's TA. Ivan was a senior, Ludwig had graduated and become a doctor, and his boyfriend, Feliciano, was an art major at my school. Lovino was majoring in cooking, and his boyfriend Antonio was one of his instructors. I think Toris and Feliks were friends of Ivan's, from his college; those three went to the college a town away from ours.

"I'm sorry, Ludwig," I speak up, stepping away from the tree and looking him in the eye. "You're right. We'll leave. Isn't that right, Alfred?"

I lock eyes with my brother, and glare him down, trying to pressure him into doing the nice thing for once in his life. I can see the guilt flood into his blue irises, and know I've won. "Y-Yeah," he mutters. "Mattie's right. This isn't right, you guys. W-We should just go back."

A chorus of groans meets this announcement, but nobody argues. They all begin trudging reluctantly back into the forest, except for Feliciano, who is skipping, and Ivan, who seems unfazed. Ludwig catches my eye and nods solemnly, thanking me. I nod back, and then turn to follow Alfred and the others.

**XOXOXOXO**

The world is fuzzy.

I don't want to open my eyes.

This sensation on my neck must be a dream, and yet... I feel awake.

Normally my dreams don't last quite this long.

Once I realize I'm awake, I want to wake up.

But that doesn't seem to be the case right now.

I'm not going to complain.

This is enjoyable enough.

Better than getting up and going to school, anyway.

But the feeling continues, for what must be well over a minute, because to my sleep-addled mind, it feels like five.

Then I grow slightly suspicious.

This is strange indeed.

Unless Al is just messing with me by poking me with something.

I wouldn't put it past him.

I go to move, stretch, turn over, anything to get this now almost frustrating tickling sensation to stop, and realize I cannot move a muscle in either my legs or my arms.

My hands are asleep, and I frown a degree as the painful pinpricks that signify the flow of blood begin.

But my arms will not move.

I want to curl in on myself, because my arms are quite cold, but my legs are quite warm, and I just can't move them.

But my legs... they too seem to be malfunctioning.

Is that weight on my hips?

Who-?

What...?

I gasp as I place the sensation on my neck, and freeze, startled and confused.

Someone is straddling my waist. Licking my neck. And I am tied to a headboard.

Now... I'll admit I'm kinky.

But I'm not dating anyone at the moment.

**XOXOXOXO**

"Do we really have to go back?" Alfred whispers as soon as the rest of the group minus Arthur is out of earshot.

"How insensitive can you get?" I snap. "He lost his brother in the woods, Alfred! If he hadn't caught us that would have been one thing, but he did, and we had Feliciano, which made it even worse. We're leaving, and that's final."

"Ohoho, I'd say Matthew is scared," Arthur jokes, nudging my side with a shoulder.

I can't feel it all too well through my costume, a thick bomber jacket I borrowed from Alfred. Beneath it I have on a cargo shirt I borrowed from my uncle, an archaeologist, and a pair of extremely short cargo shorts that I've since regretted wearing, because my legs are freezing in the chill October night air. Thankfully, the costume also consists of a pair of woolen socks and my winter boots, so that almost compensates for it. My favorite part is the aviator goggles on my head.

"I bet you both couldn't go back in that house even if you were dared to," Arthur gloats.

"Nuh-uh!" Alfred pouts, grabbing my arm and dragging me to a halt.

Arthur stops, turns and looks at us, and raises an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Yeah, really! We'll go back right now! You dare us? We'll do it!"

"Alfred-!" I began to protest, but he cut me off.

"What are the stakes?"

"Loser has to streak through the cafeteria in just an apron," Arthur smiles darkly. "Alfred, that'll be you, luv. I know Matthew here won't be the one to blame if you fail."

"W-What?!" Alfred exclaims, stopping dead in his tracks. "N-No way!"

"Oh yes," Arthur grins. "And I know you'll do it if you go in that house and bring me something from inside it. I'll know if you buy it somewhere, Alfred."

"B-But-!"

"Too chicken?" Arthur muses. "Pity. I guess I'll just have to find some other brave bloke to bring as my date to the Halloween dance tomorrow night."

"Artie!" Alfred whimpers. "That's not fair!"

"It's perfectly fair, luv," he chuckles, then pecks Alfred on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, doll, item from the house or not. I'll have the apron, don't worry~!"

I glare at Alfred as he watches the Briton swagger back off into the forest, jaw slack, and arms limp at his sides.

"Fuuuuuuck," he curses, stomping his foot and crossing his arms like a petulant child. "I don't want to go in that mother-fucking creepy-ass house!"

"And you think I do?" I snap.

"Please, Mattie, you have to help me!" he pleads, getting down on his knees and tugging at the hem of my jacket. "Please please please! It's scary! I don't want to go in alone!"

"Maple. You're so immature, Alfred!" I sigh, and clutch at my forehead. This is going to give me a headache if I don't put a stop to it. "The only reason I'm going to help you with this is because we're twins, and everyone will assume it's me, once the pictures get out. In fact, you'll probably tell them it's me. Come on. Let's get you that stupid object."

"Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mattie! You're the best!" Alfred whoops, jumping to his feet and tossing his Captain America shield up into the air, only to catch it again, and then grab my arm with his other hand. "Come on! I don't want to spend a second more than I have to in there! We'll just go right in the door, grab the nearest candelabra, and get the fuck out of there! 'Cause creepy-ass old houses always have candelabras, right? Ooh, or maybe a lamp. Because maybe they used the candelabras to kill the owner of the house like in Clue."

**XOXOXOXO**

I let out a strangled scream, equal parts an intake of breath and gasp, as my eyes fly open, my body finally moved from apathy by the adrenaline being pumped through my veins.

There is a man in a black hoodie sitting on my waist, leaning forward and pressing his face into the juncture between my neck and shoulder, licking and sucking gently at the skin there. I feel the scrape of his canine teeth against the flesh and buck instinctively in terror, trying to shrink away from this threat to such a vulnerable area.

My head smacks into a hard surface behind me as he pushes a little harder at my neck and I whimper, but find the sound oddly muffled. What feels like a piece of cloth has been tied tightly around my head and between my upper and lower teeth, effectively preventing me from speaking. I bite down on it, but nothing happens, and my next instinct is to tear it off with my hands, but I find those restrained as well, and my breath accelerates even further.

The bomber jacket is gone, and my shirt is unbuttoned quite a bit lower than I had had it open before. I still feel the aviator goggles, though, which reassures me just a little. They belonged to my aunt, a Canadian pilot from a long time ago, so I really didn't want to lose them. My arms are tied at the wrists to something unmoving, what I assume is a headboard, because the surface beneath me is too soft to be any sort of floor. It feels like rope; scratching at the delicate skin of my wrist, I can already feel the rope burning at my epidermis from the friction. I swing my elbows frantically from side to side, wriggling my torso and trying to generally worm around as much as possible, but to no avail.

I bring my knees up quickly, attempting to knee him in the back with one or both, but nothing happens. I make contact with his back, and he rocks forward for an instant, but does not even pause in his constant licking. If anything, he speeds up, which terrifies me even further, because every so often his teeth touch my throat again, and I develop the urge to curl up in a ball and protect my neck from the world.

Only one thing comes to mind, when I realize just what is going on.

I am tied to a bed.

My shirt is unbuttoned.

There is a man on top of me.

He is sucking on my neck.

My brother is gone.

Nobody can hear me scream.

I'm going to be raped.

I begin to cry silently upon that realization, first one tear track then the other making their way down my cheeks slowly. I don't want this to happen to me. I'm not a virgin by any means, but I never gave such an intimate thing to anyone I didn't trust with my life. And here I am, God knows where, with God knows who, about to have such a special thing taken from me against my will. I feel the brush of those teeth once again, and begin to cry in earnest, letting sobs wrack my figure what little they can, and allowing the fear I feel to send tremors racing down my arms and spine.

**XOXOXOXO**

"Y-You should go first, Mattie. Um, yup. Captain America says so, bro!" Alfred is literally hiding behind me, hands clenched on my shoulders, and I can feel him shaking.

"Alfred… if you're this scared, shouldn't we go back?" I suggest, gently removing his hands one finger a time from my coat. "This is stupid. Just get something from Grandma's house and mess it up in a blender like you did for Arthur's birthday present. Remember? You called it an antique?"

"T-That won't work this time! He'll know, Mattie!"

"And how do you know that?" I sigh. "Magic?"

"No, bro, magic isn't real," Alfred informs me, rolling his eyes, completely serious. "It's definitely science. He knows shit he's not supposed to. I'm telling you, dude. It's like he's been genetically modified or something."

"…right."

"No, I mean it!"

"Okay, eh. Whatever you say, Alfred."

"Youfirst!" he exclaims, suddenly driving me forward, pushing by the small of my back towards the front door, turning the knob, and pushing me through the threshold.

"Alfred!" I shout, turning to face him even as I trip over the small step up into the house, and land on my ass on the hard wood floor. "Why you-!"

Alfred squeals, dropping his Captain America shield onto the wooden deck of the house, and scrambling backwards, tripping down the three short steps, and falling on his own ass in the dirt. His eyes are wide as saucers, and his mouth gapes wide open as he scrambles to his feet again, then backs away as fast as he can. Before I can even ask what the matter is, he's turned tail, and is bolting through the gate and back into the woods, wheezing and gasping for breath the whole way.

...am I that scary when I'm mad? I've never gotten a reaction quite that violent before...

A sinking feeling forms in the pit of my stomach as I hear the creak of wood behind me, but my eyes are locked on where Alfred disappeared into the forest. I swallow audibly as another creak echoes on the wood, combined with the heavy step of a boot. I must be imagining things. Absolutely and completely. Alfred saw a spider, and I am imagining boots moving on this floor. There is nobody here. Nobody. There can't be. There's no way.

I turn around slowly, whole body shaking, and when I come face to face with a pair of high, laced up black combat boots that remind me eerily of the pair Ludwig wears to pick up Feliciano sometimes, all the air seems to be knocked from my stomach, and I blink once, before realizing I'm about to pass out.

**XOXOXOXO**

As one tear runs down my neck and to where the man is still lapping at my skin, he freezes and pulls away, pressing two fingers to his mouth as if to check a taste. His hoodie falls backwards, off his head, and I finally get a good look at him. He looks like a boy; barely any older than me, but with pale silver hair and blood-red eyes.

He perks up and those ruby eyes lock with mine, causing mine to fill with tears of dread, terror, and a hopelessness I have never felt before. My chest heaves faster as I begin to truly hyperventilate, scared for my life and whatever else this man might choose to take from me.

The man suddenly scrambles off of my body, looking aghast, rubbing at his tongue with the back of his hand as though to remove a taste. As soon as I am able, I pull my legs up towards the headboard where my arms are still tied, and curl into a ball as much as possible. He looks from me to his hand then back, and shakes his head, fisting his hand in his hair and frowning.

"God dammit..." he mutters. There is a trace of some accent that is familiar to me, but I can't place it off the top of my head. "You were supposed to run. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO RUN, DAMMIT!"

"I'm sorry," I try to choke out, but it comes out unintelligible.

I start crying in earnest again, because not only am I alone in a house with a man who was just licking my neck, he also seems unstable. He's yelling at me for not running away? He's the one who tied me up!

"S-Sorry. You're sorry? No. I'm sorry," he growls, more to himself than me, but he smacks himself in the forehead, and I blink, startled. "I'm so... dammit, dammit I am so fucking sorry. I'm just so..."

He eyes me strangely for a moment, observing my hunched figure, heaving chest, and tear-stained face, before leaping from the side of the room back onto the bed, and pressing his nose up into my face. I jam my head back into the headboard again, holding my nose up and away from his face, my eyes dilated and locked on him, and my breath coming in short, quick gasps. Pale hands reach up slowly towards my face, and I shiver as they make contact. They are ice cold.

He traces the contours of my throat with just a fingertip, and then drags it further up, and follows my jaw to my ear. My chin is clamped between his thumb and middle finger then, and he feels my bottom lip with his forefinger. I whimper again, the muscles in my neck straining to push my face as far as possible from him.

He blinks, seems to realize he's touching my face, and then hastily reaches behind my head and unties the rag, pulling it out of my mouth as he backs away. He crawls to the edge of the bed to give me my space, but his eyes never leave mine, and his gaze is almost as suffocating as his physical presence.

"Speak," he prods, watching me intently from the end of the bed.

I hesitate a moment, absolutely terrified of what he might do if I do speak, and then it all pours out in a ragged breath. "Please, please, please don't rape me! Whatever it is that I did, I am so sorry! I shouldn't have come in your house! It was a bet! A bet for my brother! A-And if I didn't do it, everyone would have thought it was me… streaking in the cafeteria …but I'm going to be applying for jobs… you don't understand, that can't be on my resume…! Please don't rape me, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm gay, if that's what you're angry about, I'm sorry if I broke your floor when I fell on it, I'm sorry my brother pushed me in your house, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I haven't done anything, I'm a good boy, I never cheat on tests or push people down stairs or swear at anyone-!"

"Hey!" he interrupts me, frowning a little. "Slow down there. But I heard a 'rape' or two in there –I will not– scheiße, I will NOT do something that unawesome. That's just not okay. At all. I promise I'm not going to do that to you. Just... calm down a bit, alright? Your heart is beating a little fast there, and it's... ngh." He stops, then takes a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment, before continuing. "Just slow down, okay, kid?"

"I…" I squeak, and then collapse in on myself crying, worn out, afraid, confused, and upset.

"Hey! Hey, no! Come on, I'm not going to hurt you," the man says, baffled by my hysterics.

He crawls carefully back across the bed towards me, and reaches out, before hesitating, and finally placing a hand on my shoulder, and rubbing it consolingly.

"Shh," he murmurs, slowly moving closer to me, until he has his arms wrapped around my torso, and my head situated on his shoulder. "Shh, it's okay. Just let it out, kleine. I'm not going to hurt you, I'm not going to rape you, I'm not going to kill you, I promise."

I sob into his shoulder, my entire body shaking, and I feel first one, then the other of my wrists released from the headboard of the bed. Without hesitation, I slump into the stranger's arms, and wrap my own limply around him, as he strokes my back comfortingly. His breath seems to become more hesitant, and more labored, as though each intake of breath is bothering him, but I barely pay it any mind. His body is still cold; it's strange… it feels as though I am the only one of the two of us producing body heat.

But when I inhale into his hoodie… the scent is familiar. Like freshly washed and pressed clothing. But he lives in the middle of the woods. Or so I assume. Where would he get clean clothes? There is no electricity in this house. There shouldn't be any. Can't be any.

A familiar scent.

A familiar accent.

A familiar pair of boots.

Calling me… kleine? That sounds…

"German," I inhale sharply, and then pull my head back, and look him in the eyes, after wiping my nose.

"Huh?" he asks, looking as startled by my sudden movement as I feel.

"You're not… German, are you?" I ask hesitantly.

"Uh… ja, why?"

"Y-You… You're why Ludwig wanted us to leave! You're his older brother!" I exclaim, leaning away from him, and gaping openly at his face, connecting his features to those I'm more familiar with seeing on Ludwig, with blue eyes and blonde hair.

"You know Luddy?" he gasps. "Wait…" he pulls back, and blinks a few times, then points directly at me, and hesitates. "You… I know you! You went to school with Ivan! Didn't you date him? Matvey?"

"I-It's actually Matthew… but yes, yes, that's how I heard about you disappearing," I said, observing him more carefully now. "Why… why are you still out here? Why didn't you come back, if you're alright?"

"I…" he pauses. "It's a bit of a long story."

"Well go on," it is my turn to prod now, and I give him one of my 'Alfred F. Jones, you are in so much trouble right now,' looks. "I don't have anywhere else to be…"

"Your heart rate is up again," he breathes, pinching the bridge of his nose, and shaking his head. "Can you stop doing that? It's hard to listen to that… I'm still so…"

"What?"

"Never mind. Just let me explain," he sighs. "I... Okay, well let's start from the beginning. Ivan was my ex when we went out there that night. I dated him from when he was in the seventh grade until his sophomore year. For me that was eighth to junior. Then he met you, and you two dated...?"

"From his sophomore year to his senior year," I provide. "I was in seventh grade."

"Right, right, I remember you were young. Okay," he muses, "Okay... Well I had some beer, and Ludwig wanted me out of the house with it. It was Halloween, so me and a few buddies went through the woods to try to find this haunted house one of our friends told us about. I called Ivan up and told him to tag along. He's always good to have in freaky situations.n Nothing phases that kid."

"Except his sister," I nod.

"Yeah, that crazy bitch is something else..." he frowns. "But anyway. We found it sure enough. Didn't take very long either. But everyone else backed out. Said it had bad vibes. Not Ivan. So I went up to it with him. But we only got up half the trail outside to the door when this fast-as-hell bastard comes flying out the door and slams Ivan's head against a rock. That's one of the stains that's still there."

I shiver, remembering the stitches in the side of the Russian's head the day he came back to school. They were big. They were scary. I was terrified of tripping and splitting my skull open for months after that.

"Crazy bastard, Luddy told me he just up and walked all the way back, hours later. With a cracked skull. But... anyway. This guy... He drags me inside, and nothing I do to him has any effect on him. And then he bites me." he looks down, then back up, glancing at me cautiously. "Do you see where this is going yet?"

I shake my head. No. He was bitten by some psychopath? Sorry, but I can't relate. I was just licked by one.

"The guy was a vampire," the man sighs. "And before you tell me I'm crazy... Just look at my teeth." he bares the teeth in question at me, and I observe four canine teeth much too long to be natural.

"V-Vampire?" I gasp.

"Ja," he frowns. "The bastard turned me, used me to catch his meals for a while, then up and left. But when everyone was out looking for me, my father and Luddy eventually found this place, and figured out what I was. They helped me learn to control it better. I've been living off what my father could get from the ER when nobody was looking. But he died in that car accident a few years back; I'm so lucky Luddy got a job at the hospital. Now he brings me fresh clothes every so often, and blood bags whenever he can."

"It sounds like you're doing pretty well, then," I surmise.

"Yeah, only... he came earlier with the clothes... but he said he hadn't gotten the blood yet. I was waiting for him. And then you dipshits showed up and he had to lead you away... And I... I couldn't let you leave right now even if I wanted to."

"Wait... w-why not?" I frown.

"Because I haven't had blood in a week... And I'm hungry."

**XOXOXOXO**

**A/N:** MUAHAHA, and I cut you off here. Sorry, lovelies, this is all I got done. Legit. So I'll work my ass off to finish the other half ASAP! I promise it'll be excellent! Hope you enjoyed this~ the more juicy PruCan comes next chapter! Happy Halloween ;D


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